The invention relates to the production of fine fibers from attenuable materials, particularly attenuable materials which soften upon entering a molten state as a result of the application of heat and which harden or become relatively solid upon cooling.
The method and equipment of the invention are especially suited to the formation of fibers from glass and the disclosure herein accordingly emphasizes production of glass fibers from molten glass.
Many techniques are already known for production of fibers from molten glass, some of the techniques most widely used heretofore being identified and briefly described just below.
1. Longitudinal Blowing: Other terms sometimes used include "blown fiber", "steam blown wool", "steam blown bonded mat", "low pressure air blowing", or "lengthwise jets".
2. Strand: Other terms sometimes used are "continuous filament", or "textile fibers".
3. Aerocor: Another term sometimes used is "flame attenuation".
4. Centrifuging: Other terms sometimes used include "rotary process", "centrifugal process", "tel process", or "supertel process".
There are numerous variants of each of the above four processes, and some efforts in the art to combine certain of the processes. Further, there are other techniques discussed in the prior art by which prior workers have attempted to make glass fibers. However, the variants, attempted combinations, and attempted other techniques, for the most part have not met with sufficient success to achieve a separate and recognizable status in the art.
The four techniques above referred to may briefly be described as follows.